Carl Icahn's interest in Netflix hasn't stopped him from making strategic investments elsewhere.

Just yesterday, a host of Icahn organizations, including Icahn Partners and Icahn Master, bought up about 500,000 shares in Take-Two Interactive to increase his ownership to 9.57 percent. Icahn, who previously owned about 8.7 percent of Take-Two, has invested an aggregate total of $79.9 million in the company.

Icahn has been, at times, a thorn in Take-Two's side. In 2010, he had a spat with Take-Two's board of directors and eventually had three members ousted. In their place, Icahn was able to get three of his own nominees onto the board, including his son, Brett Icahn.

Icahn has been catching headlines lately over his recent decision to acquire just under 10 percent of Netflix's shares. Netflix yesterday announced that it had approved on Friday a shareholder rights plan that would make it prohibitively expensive to acquire the lion's share of the company's stock. The maneuver, often considered a poison pill in the financial world, aims at stopping a hostile takeover bid by an activist investor.

It's not clear whether Icahn has plans for Take-Two Interactive, which publishes a few popular franchises, including Grand Theft Auto. However, the company is in need of some help: during the third quarter, Take-Two posted revenue of $273 million and lost $12.5 million.

About the author

Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
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